• Ocean Viking has arrived in Pozzallo, now quarantined for the 274 on board
  • Migrants: 403 people landed in Taranto by Ocean Viking

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by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea 23 February 2020 The 276 migrants, rescued at sea in three Sar operations on the coast of Libya and boarded on the Ocean Viking, will have to spend two weeks in quarantine in the Pozzallo hotspot. Together with the migrants, the crew of the ship of Sos Meditérranée and Medici senza Frontiere was also isolated.

The interior ministry said that "in order to ensure adequate prevention measures" against Coronavirus risks, the migrants were placed in isolation then they will be transferred to the planned places. The ship's captain, the Norwegian Kornelius Baade, will also remain "isolated" inside the boat, together with his crew, for the quarantine period established by the health authorities.

The NGO expressed "relief for the people rescued this week, on hearing that Italy has been assigned as a safe haven". Migrants include 195 men, 14 women and 65 minors.

Three men with respiratory problems (one with a suspected tuberculosis) were transported to the Maggiore Hospital of Modica (Ragusa). The hospitalization in the 'Infectious Diseases' department of the Sicilian hospital without transit from the emergency room was arranged for them. Together with the three, it was decided to hospitalize a woman with gynecological problems and a man with a previous fracture at the health facility.

The disembarkation took place with a rigid sanitary cordon and all operators operated with overalls and masks.

The mayor of Pozzallo , Roberto Ammatuna , said: "On board the Ocean Viking there is no suspected case of Coronavirus". The use of health protections to avoid possible contagion, "is a normal precaution, but please do not create unnecessary alarmism because we all know that the virus does not come from Africa. I demanded a strengthening of the sanitation in the light of the contingent situation Coronavirus spread - the first citizen has made known - In addition to this, I have requested and obtained that an intense vigilance by the police is organized around the reception center to prevent any possible form of contact with the outside and any unauthorized exit of migrants ".

The authorities will take care to implement any health protection protocol, even greater than what is established at national level, in order to avoid any contamination from interference with operators involved in assisting migrants. "We are committed - says Ammatuna - to prevent and eliminate any danger that threatens public safety and urban safety and to achieve these objectives I trust in the collaboration of all citizens, on whose availability I have no doubt".

The President of the Sicily Region , Nello Musumeci has specified: "This indispensable preventive measure of the quarantine will obviously apply to Lampedusa and Messina".